Thank the universe

[Writer61]

In a recent WIP (publication pending) I knew that I wanted the MCs to engage in a swap, but was utterly stuck with writing suitable characters. A breakthrough came when I realised that I had a suitable couple from another series in the same universe. Once I could picture them, the story was completed within a couple of hours.

So, the question is: how has writing in a universe helped you?

 

[YmaOHyd]

Well, as you know, we live in a universe.

 

[TheWritingGroup]

Most of my stories (here) exist because I wrote "Coffee With Blushes" as an exercise, trying to practice dialogue. Maria and Liz have a heart-to-heart and Maria tells a sexy story from her past. A minor character is Blondie, the barista who serves the coffee.

As of now (and not counting "Coffee") there are 3 published Liz stories, 2 published Maria stories, and 2 published Blondie stories, both of those novel length. There are also two stories of Maureen, a neighbor of Blondie's who escaped the cutting-room floor to get her own subseries. In progress is a much longer meganovel of Liz.

So most of my output builds on those three characters and where they went from that random scene I set up to practice dialogue.

--Annie

 

[Djmac1031]

In a recent WIP (publication pending) I knew that I wanted the MCs to engage in a swap, but was utterly stuck with writing suitable characters. A breakthrough came when I realised that I had a suitable couple from another series in the same universe. Once I could picture them, the story was completed within a couple of hours.

So, the question is: how has writing in a universe helped you?

Thats kinda wild. So I'm working on a story about a newly divorced guy visiting a swingers / nudist resort for the first time.

While I have a new character I'm ultimately gonna have him interact with mainly, I also need to populate the place with other characters.

And much like you, I realized I had a couple from my long running series who would fit in perfectly and give my new guy a very nice welcome experience.

The best part is by using these two characters, it helps me in that i know them both well so writing their scenes came easy.

And while my long time readers will certainly recognize them, new readers won't need to have read the series, to them they'll just be secondary characters.

 

[ElectricBlue]

So, the question is: how has writing in a universe helped you?

Most of my stories are joined up in one way or another. Keen readers might spot the connections, but for me, it's fun leaving little Easter Eggs, and occasionally joining different story lines together.

For example, my Floating World recently joined up with my Emma and Bobbie stories, with Adam meeting Bobbie in You're My Last Flight.

 

[Bramblethorn]

Wrote a scene with a bunch of minor characters, one named "Lucy". Realised I'd mentioned a Lucy in a previous story as the protagonist's ex, then thought it would be interesting if they were the same person, and that added a whole lot of depth to the character and ended up with her becoming a major player in later events. I don't know how many of my readers made the connection but it helped me write her.

 

[Djmac1031]

So, the question is: how has writing in a universe helped you?

Besides the new story I'm working on, I have interconnected MOST of my stories enough so that they all exist in the same universe. Or at least most of them.

Then there's the shared Angels And Demons universe @EmilyMiller and I co-created to the point where we've both not merely written several stories set in this universe, but crossed over and shared characters in them. Its been a lot of fun world building and expanding the universe.

 

[old_prof]

Most of my stories are joined up in one way or another. Keen readers might spot the connections, but for me, it's fun leaving little Easter Eggs, and occasionally joining different story lines together.

For example, my Floating World recently joined up with my Emma and Bobbie stories, with Adam meeting Bobbie in You're My Last Flight.

I've been having fun tying stories together, but not all the same universe.

More than half of my published stories share a series of characters from my first series. I'm up to 23 stories directly in that series. (Number 24 is in the works.) Another 9 stories (counting all 6 parts of a novel) have notable appearances by characters in that original series. I have 8 more stories that 3 different characters in that universe claim to have written. I commonly have a character who's a writer claim to have written a story I published. Two of them write on literotica.

One of the characters in my about to be submitted Valentine's Day story Oh Sweetie has written one of the stories in my main universe, I guess meaning she wrote a bunch of it, maybe all of it. Although she only writes lesbian erotica, so she must have a writer friend who is helping create that universe. I will have to consider creating her collaborator in creating my entire universe.

All told, 40 of my 51 published stories either take place in my main universe, or in a universe that's a figment of the imagination of that universe. And now all 40 of them will be a figment of one seed story.

EDIT: I just realized I missed a story in my main universe because there is a common divorce lawyer iwith it and one of the stories clearly in the ui=niverse.

 

[Britva415]

I think it's a double edged sword. Having a pre-rolled character can make the piece easy to write, but it can also make the written story empty and the characterization weak.

For example, the only reason I can continue to read novels in a certain commercial series is because I, the reader, also know the characters. I sort of keep hoping that the next one will return to the strong, compelling characterization of the first 10 or so novels in the series. But the author lately takes way too many shortcuts and I can't imagine that a naïve new reader would find one of the newer novels compelling. It's not because the history has to be known - it doesn't. The plots don't depend on knowing the previous plots, so, there's no reason a new reader shouldn't be able to pick one up without starting at the beginning. It's a characterization problem. Even as a reader who already know the characters, I might stop reading this series because even though the plots are cool, the writing is empty due to the weak characterization.

Just a risk to be aware of. A shortcut in ideation (which is what happened here) can be an advantage and make the story come together, but a blind spot could allow that to turn into a shortcut in execution - the writing of the story.

 

[Djmac1031]

I think it's a double edged sword. Having a pre-rolled character can make the piece easy to write, but it can also make the written story empty and the characterization weak.

For example, the only reason I can continue to read novels in a certain commercial series is because I, the reader, also know the characters. I sort of keep hoping that the next one will return to the strong, compelling characterization of the first 10 or so novels in the series. But the author lately takes way too many shortcuts and I can't imagine that a naïve new reader would find one of the newer novels compelling. It's not because the history has to be known - it doesn't. The plots don't depend on knowing the previous plots, so, there's no reason a new reader shouldn't be able to pick one up without starting at the beginning. It's a characterization problem. Even as a reader who already know the characters, I might stop reading this series because even though the plots are cool, the writing is empty due to the weak characterization.

Just a risk to be aware of. A shortcut in ideation (which is what happened here) can be an advantage and make the story come together, but a blind spot could allow that to turn into a shortcut in execution - the writing of the story.

Its a good point.

Any time I've crossed over a character from one story to another, I've always approached it as if the readers would not automatically know who these characters are. Yes, I know them. But as you point out, that's not an excuse to get lazy and assume readers will automatically connect with them.

 

[pink_silk_glove]

I always like to write something different than what I've written before. I have too many ideas and I'm not so chuffed with my own creations that I feel compelled to go back to the same well.

 

[ronde]

I have a few "serials", as opposed to "chapters", that use the same characters. The location of the story is the same, but I always put in a little background about the main character so readers aren't fumbling in the dark trying to understand him or her. I'll also write something about the main characters that somewhat defines a personality if readers haven't read the prior episodes.

 

[BobbyBrandt]

I live in my universe and even when the story or characters are alien to it, I can usually find a way for them to visit. Here is an excerpt from one of my stories (Justice) outside the universe:

Minerva was examining pictures on the wall adjacent to Hayden’s and was the first to achieve recognition of the man. “Hayden, do you know who this is?”

Pointing to the framed pictures that he had just noticed, he replied, “I do now. Look, these are all the book covers from his best sellers. I thought he looked familiar. You didn’t know?”

“I had no idea,” Minerva confessed. “Are you a fan of his books too?”

Moving between each of the framed book covers on the wall, Hayden studied each carefully to see if there were any covers for books by this award-winning author that he hadn’t yet read. “I have all of these books at home. I’ve read each of them at least a dozen times over the years. You?”

Nodding, Minerva said, “’His Daddy’s Car’ has to be one of my favorite books of all time. ‘Heavy Traffic’ runs a close second though.”

Hearing Dr. Vinson rejoining them, Minerva turned to her and asked, “Your husband wrote all of these books?”

“Yes, he hopes to get back to his ninth novel in a few months if the physical therapy keeps progressing as well as it has so far. His greatest fear was that the stroke impacted his cognitive abilities or memory to the point that it would affect his ability to continue writing. We don’t need the income, you understand, but I don’t know what he would do if he no longer had an outlet for his imagination. Please, have a seat and help yourselves.”

“Well, please tell him that we are both huge fans of his work,” Hayden said as he took a seat in one of the chairs across from the sofa.

I received a lot of feedback from readers asking if I was okay.

 

[THBGato]

how has writing in a universe helped you?

It's most useful for bringing in side-characters, for me. For instance, any given main character will have flat mates, colleagues, old school friends. By writing in universe, I often already know who these people are, as they may well be the MCs of a previous story - therefore, I don't have to discover them as I go. Thus, I can focus on finding out who the main characters are (who are often former background peeps with only a line or two).

 

[Writer61]

It's most useful for bringing in side-characters, for me.

Completely agree. Also, I reuse locations and companies. It saves my imagination for the story itself.